花木蘭MulanLongago,agirlnamedMulanlivedwithhermotherandfatherinasmallvillageinthelandofWeiinNorthernChina.Onemorning,afterreturningfromherdailyvisittothemarket,Mulansawacrowdofpeopleoutsidethevillagemeetingplace.Thepeoplewerereadingaposterthatsaid:OfficialDecreefromtheEmperor.Wearebeingattackedfromthesouth.Theemperorordersonemalefromeach

householdtoreportformilitarydutyatdawn.Noexceptions!Mulanracedhometoherfather."Youcannotgo,father!"Mulancried."Yourwoundshavenothealedfromthelastwar.""Daughter,"Fatherreplied."Wouldyouhavemedishonorourfamily?Imustgo.""No.I

must,"Mulansaidbravely.

Fatherlaughed."Nowomanfightsinthearmy.""YouknowIridebetterthanmostoftheboysinthevillage,"Mulaninsisted."I'mproudofyourskills,"Fathersaid,pattingheronthehead."Butdon'tbesilly.""Youtaughtmetohandleasword,"Mulanargued."Youknowlcanfight!""Enough!"Fathersaid."Gopreparesupper.I'mleavinginthe

morning,andIneedtoeatwelltonight."Mulanwalkedawayfromherfather,disappointedbutdetermined.Laterthatnight,Mulancutoffherlonghair.Shewashedthepowderandrougeoffherface.Beforedawn,Mulanstoleherfather'sarmorandslippedoutofthe

house.Dressedlikeasoldier,Mulanjoinedthemenassembledatthevillagemeetingplaceandregisteredforherfamily.NoonerealizedMulanwasagirl.Shefooledthemallandmarchedofftobattlewiththeothers.Overyears,Mulantraveledthousandsofmiles.Asasoldier,shecrossedwideriversandtallmountains.Inbattle,theyoungwomanwasasbraveasanyofthesoldiers.Shewasmoreskillfulthanmostwiththeswordandlance.Mulanbecametheleaderofherunit.Whenthewarwasfinallyover,Mulanwasawardedmanymedals.TheGeneralofthearmyofferedMulanajobinahighoffice."Iamhonored,"Mulansaid."ButImustreturntomyfamily."TheGeneral,confounded,watchedhisbestsoldierwalkaway.WhenMulanreachedherhome,shewasgreetedbyhermotherandfather."Father,"Mulansaid."Iamsorrytohavedishonoredourfamily.""Dishonor?"Fatherreplied."Youhavemadeusproud.Youhavebroughthonortoourfamily."Mulanembracedherfather.Afterafewweeksathome,Mulanwasbackinwomen'sclothes.Shehadforgottenherlifeasasoldier.Oneday,Mulanwenttoanswerthedoor.ItwastheGeneral."Iamlookingforthesoldierwholivesinthishouse,"theGeneralsaidtoMulan."Thatsoldierisme,"Mulanreplied.Mulanfetchedhermedalsand

armorandshowedtheGeneralthatshewastellingthetruth."IamsorryifIdishonoredouremperor,"MulansaidtotheGeneral."Dishonor?"theGeneralreplied."Itdoesnotmatterthatyouareawomanandnotaman.Youfoughtbravelyandsillfullyforyouremperor.Itisanhonortocallyouoneofmysoldiers."Thatnight,theGeneralatesupperwithMulanandherfamily.MulanlistenedhumblyasherfamilyandherGeneralretoldthestoryofhowMulanhadhonoredherfather,herfamily,andheremperor.CaochongweighedanElephantIntheperiodoftheThreeKinodoms.SunQuanoftheWuKingdomoncegaveCaoCaoanelephantas

a

present.Onhearingthis,CaoCaoandhistopofficialsweresohappythattheyallwentoutsidetolookat

it.AyoungboyfollowedCaoCaoclosely.HewasCaoChong,CaoCao'sson.Wow！Theelephantwassohuge！Thefourlegsasalonewereasthickasthepillarsofapalace,Despiteitssize,theelephantwasquitetame.Wantingtoseehowbigtheelephantwas,CaoChonggotveryclosetoit,onlytofindthathecoudbarelyreachuptotheelephant'sbelly.Onseeingthis,CaoCaosaidtoeveryone,"I

wonderhowmuchthishugeelephantweighsDoesanyonehave

anyideahowtoweighit?""Howcanweweigh

athingthisbig?"Allthecivilandmilitaryofficialstartedtotalktoeachother,searching

for

anidea.Someonesaid,"Wecanonlyweighitifwebuildahugesetofscales."Butimaginehowbigthatsetofscaleswouldhavetobe!Andevenwithsuchscales,itwouldbeimpossibletoweighalivingelephantonthem!Ageneralspokeinagruffvoice,"Thisiseasy!Weonlyhavetokillit,cutitup,andthenweighthepiecesonebyone."Onhearingthis,everyoneburstintolaughter.Whywouldanyonekillanelephantjusttohaveitweighed!Nooneelsecouldfigureoutabetteridea.Thecivilandmilitaryofficialsallhungtheirheadsinshameandstoppedtalking.Justthen,CaoChongwalkedinfrontofeverybodyandsaid,"Ihaveasolutiontoweightheelephantproperly.”SeeingthatitwashisbelovedsonCaoChong,CaoCaopretendedtobeangry,andsaid,"Nooneinmycourtcanfigureouthowtoweighanelephant.Sohowcanyou,amerechild,solvethisproblem?"CaoChongthenwhisperedsomethingintoCaoCao'searsthatmadeCaoCaosmile.CaoCaoimmediatelytoldeveryone,"Followme!Let'sgototheriversideandwatchthiselephantbeingweighed!"AbigboatwasmooredintheriverCaoChongaskedsomeonetoleadtheelephantontotheboat.Theelephantwassoheavy!Themomentitgotontotheboat,theboatwentdownalot.Whentheboatstoppedrocking,CaoChongcutamarkalongthewaterlineonthesideoftheboatwithasmalldagger.Thenheaskedsomeonetoleadtheelephantbackontothebank.Everybodywatchedwiththeireyeswideopen,butnobodyhadtheslightestcluewhatwasgoingon.Afterthat,CaoChongaskedpeopletoaetalotofrocksandslowlyloadthemontotheboat.Themorerocksthatwereloaded,thedeepertheboatsank.Assoonastheboatsanktothelevelwherethewaterlinemetthemarkonthesideoftheboat,CaoChongshouted,"Stop!"Atlast,everbodyrealizedwhatwasgoingon."Hooray!Hooray!"Peoplestartedcheerinqandclapping,marvelingatthiscleveridea.N